Inspecteurs associés

- Season 2

(2002)

Peter and Ellie take a holiday in the Cotswold village of Thornton Lacey to stay with old college friends,one of whom,author Colin Hopkins has written a new book - one which gives a thinly veiled account of some of the villagers' dark secret. When Colin's wife is murdered and Colin disappears Peter investigates,though his help is not entirely appreciated by local superintendent Backhouse. At the same time Peter finds a connection with a thief nicknamed the Micturator after his habit of urinating in victims' kettles.

Teen-aged Pauline Stanhope becomes the fourth victim of the Yorkshire Choker, a serial killer who strangles girls and then phones the local paper, quoting lines from 'Hamlet' - which is the play being staged by Ellie's teacher friend Mark Wildgoose, at the school attended by the girls. Dalziel, however, suspects gypsy Dave Lee, who rowed with one of the victims - a fact which brings him into conflict with the formidable gypsy rights lawyer Adi Pritchard. To help trap the killer a medium and linguistic expert are brought in but Peter solves the case by studying an old ...

The two detectives investigate a string of bizarre, seemingly accidental deaths occurring over three decades which somehow or other all involve the same man.

Peter is called out to investigate the murder of elderly Robert Deeks, an old soldier whose medals were also stolen. On the same night, Andy is accused of drunk driving, resulting in the death of an old cyclist, though Andy's friend, sober Arnie Bancroft, claims to have been the driver. With Andy on suspension, Peter looks into the murder and it turns out to be no coincidence that Mr Deeks' grandson Charley is in the same regiment as one Major Kassell, whom Andy suspects of being involved in a heroin-smuggling ring, and that Charley's fiancée Karen is a tarty waitress...